Refuse container



D66. 1964 J. c. BRIGHTON ETAL 3, 6

REFUSE CONTAINER Filed Oct. 8, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS- JOHN C. BR|GHTON$ 69 v BY LAWRENCE C. HsHER 77m \Q'Jkmi M ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 22, 1964 J. C. BRIGHTON ETAL REFUSE CONTAINER Filed Oct. 8, 1962 plum I- up um;

4 4 Y 5 1 A l f7 f x 7/ I! z! 5 7/ 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z INVENTORS.

Jomv C. BRIGHTON I; BY LAWRENCE C. HSHER 6M 1 \M i 5 4 rrokNE Ys Filed 001,- 8, 1962 J. C. BRIGHTON ETAL REFUSE CONTAINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3' mvzsmons. Zn/1v C. BRIGHM/Y BY ZAWRENCE C. fiSf/EE 7724411. dw frd ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,162,361 REFUSE CONTAHNER John (3. Brighton and Lawrence {1. Fisher, Columbus, ind, assignors to Arvin Industries, inc, @oiumbus, End, a corporation of Indiana Filed Get. 8, 1%2, Ser. No. 229,14

' 9 Claims. (til. 232-432.)

This invention relates to a refuse container and more particularly to a refuse container employing a disposable refuse bag.

It is an object of our invention to provide a refuse container of attractive appearance which can be inexpensively manufactured largely from economical sheet-metal and metal-tubing, which can be used in combination with a disposable refuse holding bag, which will securely retain said bag in an open operative position but which will permit said bag to be quickly and easily placed in and removed from said operative position, which will protect said bag from animals, which may be easily moved from one location to another, and which is adapted for shipment and storage in a compact knocked-down condition.

In accordance with the preferred form of our invention, there is provided a frame having a collar provided with a plurality of interconnected side walls mounted thereon. Said collar projects downwardly from the frame for reception in the open end of a disposable refuse bag which is retained thereon by a clamp swingably interconnected to said frame for movement between a closed position in which it bindingly retains said bag against each of the side walls on said collar and an open position out of engagement with said bag to permit said bag to be placed on and removed from said collar. Conveniently, a pair of bag-gripping fingers are also interconnected to said frame for bindingly retaining said bag against said collar until said clamp can be moved into its closed position. A lid is swingably mounted on said frame for movement between a closed position in which it rests on said frame and closes the top of said collar and an open position in which it is generally normal to said frame, and said collar is open for the reception of refuse into the bag supported thereon.

A pair of uprights extend downwardly from the frame and are connected to a ground-engaging base. Conveniently, a pair of ground-engaging wheels are carried from said uprights and act in combination with said base for supporting the container in a stationary upright position, while permitting the container to be wheeled about when it is tilted rearwardly to swing said base out of engagement with the ground. Desirably, said base and uprights are interconnected intermediate their ends by a pair of laterally disposed braces, and an upwardly open basket is mounted on said uprights and braces in vertical alignment with the bag supported on the collar to catch any refuse or litter that does not get inserted into the bag and any drippings such as grease, or the like, that exit the bottom of the bag mounted on said collar.

Conveniently, a plurality of animal guards are mounted on said uprights and extend between said frame and basket for enclosing the sides of the container. Said animal guards are movable relative to the uprights to dispose 3,162,3hl Patented Dec. 22, 1964 frame for our container, but showing the lid removed therefrom;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2, but with the animal guards in closed position;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line S5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary bottom plan view of a portion of the bag holding clamp; 4

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 9-9 of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a mounting plate for the upper frame shown in FIG. 3.

As shown in the drawings, our container is formed from an upper frame comprising a pair of lengths of metal-tubing bent into generally U-shapes and disposed in interlitting relationship. The tubing 10 comprises a transverse.y extending bight 12 interconnecting a pair of legs 13 turned downwardly at their ends, as at 14, and connected by bolts 15 adjacent their rear ends to the legs 16 on the tubing 11. The rear ends of the legs 16 are turned downwardly, as at 17, and the forward ends of said legs are continuous with a transversely extending bight 18 parallel to the bight 12. A generally rectangular collar 2.4 is mounted on the inwardly presented faces of the bights 12 and 18 and legs 13 by a plurality of screws 25. As shown in the drawings, the collar projects above and below the plane of the frame and is provided along its upper edge with an outwardly projecting peripheral lip- 26. Below the frame, the collar 24 has a peripherally extending outwardly open bead 27 intermediate said frame and the lower inwardly angled edge 28 of said collar.

The collar 24 is adapted to be received in the open end of a disposable refuse bag (shown in phantom in FIG. 4). To support said bag in an upwardly open position thereon, We provide a clampassembly comprising a pair of L-shaped rods 30 each of which has a leg 31 extending partially across the forwardly presented face of the collar 24 and a rearwardly extending leg 32 extending along one side of said collar. Each of the legs 32 projects rearwardly of the collar and is integral with a flattened extension 33 normal to said leg and swingably connected by a pin 34 to the floor 35 of a bracket 36 mounted on the inwardly presented face of one of the frame legs 17. A link 38 is swingably connected at one of its ends to the extension 33 by a pin 39 and is swingably connected at its opposite end by a pin 40 to a transversely extending rod 42 disposed below the plane of the frame bight 18. The rods 3i and 42 lie in the horizontal plane of the collar bead 27 and, as shown in FIG. 6, one of the rods 30 is provided at its end remote from its extension 33 with a book 44 adapted to receive a loop 46 swingably mounted on a locking handle 47 swingably mounted on the adjacent end of the other clamp rod 30 for thus locking the clamp rods 39 and 42 in the bead 27 for retaining a bag around the collar 24. As shown in dotted lines in FIG. 7, when the loop 46 is disengaged from the book 44, and the two clamp rods 30 are swung outwardly about the axes of the pivot pins 34 to dispose said rods in spaced relation to the collar 24, the links 38 will swing about the axes of the pins 39 and at to swing the rod 42 rearwardly out of engagement with the back face of the collar 24 to thus permit a bag to be inserted on or removed from the collar 24. Conversely, as the rods 38 are swung inwardly about the axes of the pins 34, the links 38 will again swing about the axes of the pins 39 and 40 to force the rod 42 into engagement with the collar head 27 extending across the rear wall of the collar for bindingly frame arms ,12 and connected theretoasbybolts iAd In order to retain ,a bag on the collar 24 until the clamp rods 38 and 42 can be moved into closed position,-

we mount a gripping finger 48 on the floor 35 of each of the brackets 36. As shown in FIG. 7, each of the fingers 48 has a pointed end 49 whichprojects forwardly of its bracket 36 into engagement with a dimple 50 formed in the back face 7 of the collar 24. v The fingers 47 are formed from spring steel so that as the bag is lifted upwardly along therear face of the collar 24 said fingers will bend upwardly to permit the upper back edge-of the bag toclear said fingers and take a position between said fingers and the adjacent collar face. When such lifting effort is removed from the bag, the weight of said bag and the inherent resiliency of the fingers 48 will cause said fingers to bend downwardly with their forwardly' presented ends 49 bindingly retaining the bag between the fingers and the dimples 50 for thus retaining the bag on the collar 24 until the clamp rods 30 and 42 can be moved into their closed locked position. Upon movement of the clamp rods 30 and 42 into open positions, the weight of the refuse inthe bag will cause said bag to. tear off of the fingers 49 and drop off of the collar.

p In order to close the top of the collar 24, we'provide jacent their lower ends, each of the uprights 68 is" connected, as by a pin 72, tothe inner face of a generally U- shaped base 74 at the rear thereof. The base 74 is further interconnected to the uprights 68 by a generally U-shaped brace 76 comprising apair of laterally spaced legs 77 connected at the lower ends to thefinner face of the base 74 intermediate the front and rear edges thereof by bolts 78. The legs 77 angle rearwardly and upwardly from their connections to the base 74 and are interconnected to each other at'their upper ends by a transversely extending bight 8i Conveniently, the brace 76 is connected at its upper end-to the uprights 68 by the bolts 70.

As shown in FIG. 4, the, base. 74 angles downwardly and forwardly from its connection to the uprights 68 for engagement with the ground, and the'braces '68 project downwardly below their connection to said base to define a pair of ground-engageable feet 79 acting in combination with the base for supporting the container in a gena lid 52 conveniently formed as a sheet-metal stamping.

and provided with a downwardly projecting peripheral skirt 54. A handle 55 and spring catch 56, of any suitable construction are mounted on the forward edge of the lid, said catch engaging the collar lip 26 upon lid closing for releasably retainingv said lid in closed position. The lid erally upright position. When it is desired to make our container portable, it is merely necessary to insert an axle 3]. through the pair of uprights 68-above the pins 72 and mount a pair of wheels 82 upon said axle'with the lower portions of said wheels disposedslightly below the lower ends of the upright feet 79; andthe forward end of the base 74.. In this manner, when the wheels 82 are employed, the container will be supported in agenerally upright position on the wheels 82 and forward end of the base 74, and the container can be moved from one location to another merely by tilting said container rearwardly to dispose the'base 74 out of engagement with the ground f androllingsaid container about on,the=wheels 82. To

facilitate such movement of the container,'a pair of generally L-shaped handles .84 may be mounted on the uprights 68 as by the bolts 70., v

As shown in FIG. 4, a basket 85 maybe mounted on our container in vertical alignment with the collar 24 and the bag supported thereon. Conveniently, the basket 52 is swingably interconnected to the frame legs 13 and 16 by a pair of hinges 57, each of which has an arm 58 fixedly mounted on the rear stretch of the lid skirt 54 and normal to a second arm 59 projecting rearwardly and downwardly through a slot in the skirt 54. Each of the hinge arms 59 is interposed between the adjacent pair of frame legs 13 and 16 and is swingably connected thereto by a hinge pin 64 .Asshowri in FIG. 9, the end ofthe arm 59 remote from the arm 58 is provided with a hook '62 in which one end of a coil spring63is received, the

opposite end of said spring being received'in a bracket 64 mountedon the underside of the adjacent frame arrn13. Thus, as the lid 52 is swung .about the axis of the pins '85comprises a pair ofgopposed side walls 86 interconnected by floor 87, back wall 88, and front wall 89.

The forward ,end of the floor 87 terminates rearwardly of the front edge of the frame bight 12 and the front basket wall 89 slopes forwardly with its forwardly presented upper edge lying in vertical alignment with the forwardly presented face of theframe bight 12. As shown in FIG. '4, the-side walls86; jare swingably interconnected adjacent theirfront edges to'the braces-'77 by rivets 92 and areprovided at their rear edges with laterally prointo a closed position in which the skirt 54 rests upon the upwardly presented faces of the frame legs 13 :and 'bight 12, thesprings 63' will beintension.

lifting effort applied to the handle56 will cause the catch However, a

56 to disengage from the collar lip 26, and the springs .63

jecting flanges 93 adapted'to abut the uprights 68 for supporting said basket in a generally horizontal orientation. This permits the basket; 85 'to tilt forwardly when the refuse bag'isdropped into it after release of the clamp rods 7 '30 and 42, so-thatsaid bagcan be easily slid and lifted will u swing the lid" 52 into its open position shown in FIG. 9.

Theportion of our invention already described maybe out of said basket. I p I 7 It has beenfound that various animals will tear open "refuse bags which contain garbage and otheredible litter.

Toprevent su'chan occurrence,- we provide means for enclosing therefuse bag supported on'thecollar 24. As

mounted on afwall, post, or any other suitable support as a completed unit for supporting'a' refuselbag. To efiect such mounting, aplate 657as illustrated in FIG. lOm'ay be employed} As shown, the plate is provided with a 'pair of upwardly projectingstuds 66 at each' of its ends receivable in openings 67 formed in the ends'17-of' the frame arms 16, and may beconnected to any-suitablesup. porting structure by fastening means extending through,

openings formed in said plate.- q

shown in FIG. 4, the back of thecontainer is closedpby arear panel '94 connected along its" lateral edges to'the uprights 68as by screws 95. The upperend of the panel 94is curved over the framelegs 13 and 16 and is connected to the bight 18 as by screws 96. The lower end of. the panel 94 terminates adjacentthe basket back wall 88, and-said back wall-is provided with a rearwardly pro- However, whereit is desired to employour refuse con-5 tainer as a self-supporting uint,the' cioller, lid, and frame assembly illustrated in FIG. 3 is connected to a pair of laterally spaced downwardlyprojecting uprights 68 con-. vcniently formed'as lengths ofmetal-tubing. Desirably the upper ends of the uprights 68 are telescopically 're jecting flange '98 abutting the panel 94. to preventsmall animals" such as mice, and 'the'like, froni attaining access ,to the bagiffrom the. rear of the container. The other three sides of the container. are'enclosedby a pairof gen- ;erally L-shaped animal guardsltlt) swingably mounted on the uprights 68 as bylringes 1tl1jand 1fl2 and provided with cooperative catches 103'of any desiredlcons truction.

ceived on inserts "69 mounted-inrthe lower ends-14of the Conveniently, the hinges 182" are spring hing es actin'gfbetween'the'uprights .68jand'the guards 1G0forI-causingsaid ame e swin'g'into' their openposition shown in FIG. 2

' wheni said guardsfareunlocked. The upper ends fgthe animal guards 100 are coplanar with the upwardly presented faces of the frame bight 12 and legs 13, and the lower ends of said guards project below the upper edge of the basket 85. To prevent small animals such as mice, and the like, from climbing between the basket 85 and the guards 100 when said guards are in their closed position, flanges 104 are mounted on the inwardly presented faces of said guards which abut the outwardly presented faces of the basket 85 when said guards are in closed position. As shown in FIG. 5, the flanges 104 are interrupted, as at 105, to clear the brace legs 7'7 when the pair of guards 100 are swung into their closed position.

We claim:

1. In a refuse container,

(a) a generally rectangularly shaped collar,

(1)) a frame connected to said collar around a plurality of the sides thereof and having a pair of laterally spaced members projecting outwardly from said collar,

(0) said collar projecting downwardly from said frame for reception in the open end of a refuse bag,

(d) clamp means comprising a plurality of angulated members swingably interconnected to said frame and movable in the horizontal plane of said collar between an open position in spaced relation to said collar and a closed position disposed immediately adjacent the outer face of said collar and extending around the four sides thereof for bindingly retaining said bag thereon,

(e) a lid for closing the upper end of said collar, and

(f) bracket means operatively connected to said pair of members for mounting said frame on a support.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 in which said clamp means comprises (a) a pair of rods adapted to extend around three sides of said collar when said clamp means is in closed position,

(b) the adjacent ends of said pair of rods being provided with cooperative locking means and the remote ends of said pair of rods being swingably interconnected to said frame on parallel vertical axes,

(c) a third rod adapted to extend along the fourth side of said collar when said clamp means is in closed position, and

(d) a pair of links swingably interconnecting the opposed ends of said third rod and said pair of rods adjacent said remote ends of said pair of rods for moving said third rod into open and closed positions upon movement of said pair of rods into open and closed positions.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 with the addition that (a) said collar has an inwardly projecting peripherally extending bead below its connection to said frame and said clamp rods are receivable in said bead upon movement into closed position.

4. In a refuse container,

(:1) a frame defining a generally rectangularly shaped opening,

(b) a generally rectangular collar mounted within said frame around a plurality of the sides thereof and projecting downwardly therefrom for reception in the open end of a refuse bag,

(0) means operatively connected to said frame for mounting said frame on a support,

(d) a pair of laterally spaced brackets mounted on said frame,

(e) clamp means swingably connected to said pair of brackets and projecting outwardly therefrom for engagement with said bag and collar above the plane of said clamp means, and

(g) a lid for closing the upper end of said collar.

5. In a refuse container,

(a) a first generally C-shaped frame,

(b) a second generally C-shaped frame disposed within said first frame and rigidly connected thereto whereby said first frame and the bight of said second frame form a generally rectangularly shaped opening,

(0) a generally rectangularly shaped collar connected to the inner faces of said frames and projecting therebelow for reception in the open end of a refuse bag,

(d) a pair of brackets mounted on the legs of said second frame,

(e) clamp means swingably connected to said pair of rackets below said frames and movable between an open position in spaced relation to said collar and a closed position disposed immediately adjacent said collar for bindingly retaining said bag thereon,

(f) a pair of bag-gripping fingers mounted on said brackets and projecting outwardly therefrom for engagement with said collar intermediate said clamp means and the bight on said second frame,

(g) a lid having a pair of hinges swingably connected to the legs of said frames for swinging movement to and from a closed position in which it extends over said collar and is supported on said first frame, and

(h) bracket means operatively connected to one of said frames for mounting the container on a support.

6. In a refuse container,

(at) a ground-engaging base,

(b) a plurality of members connected to said base and projecting upwardly therefrom,

(c) a frame fixedly supported on said plurality of members above said base,

(d) a generally rectangularly shaped collarmounted on said frame around a plurality of its sides and re ceivable in the open end of a refuse bag,

(e) clamp means comprising a plurality of angulated members swingably interconnected to said frame and movable in the-horizontal plane of said collar between an open position in spaced relation to said collar and a closed position disposed immediately adjacent the outer face of said collar and extending around the four sides thereof for bindingly retaining said bag thereon,

(f) a lid carried on said frame for closing said co la (g) a basket swingably mounted on said plurality of members adjacent the lower ends thereof in alignment with said collar and bag and having a forwardly sloping front wall disposed forwardly of the forward edge of said collar, and

(11) animal guards mounted on said plurailty of members and extending between said frame and basket for enclosing the sides of the container, said animal guards being movable relative to said plurality of members between an open position spaced from said basket to dispose said bag in a position of access and a closed position engaging said basket.

7. In a refuse container,

(a) a ground-engaging base,

(b) a pair of uprights mounted along the sides of said base at the rear thereof, (c) upwardly and rearwardly angled braces connected at the lower ends to said base and at their upper ends to said uprights,

(d) a frame fixedly mounted on the upper ends of said uprights,

(e) a generally rectangularly shaped collar mounted on said frame around a plurality of its sides and receivable in the open end of a refuse bag, i

(f) clamp means comprising a plurality of angulated members swingably interconnected to said frame and movable in the horizontal plane of said collar between an open position in spaced relation to said collar and a closed position disposed immediately adjacent the outer'fa'ce of said collar for binding'ly t retaining said bag thereon, a v (g) a lid carried on said frame for closing said collar, (11) a basket swing'ahly mounted on said'braces adja'-' cent the lower ends thereof and supported in an operative horizontal position on said uprights in ver-' tical alignment with said vcollar andbag', and. (i) a transversely extending axle supported on said up a pair of ground-engageabl wheels. 8. In a refuse container, (a) a ground-engaging base, V (b) a pair of uprights mounted along the sides of said base at the rear thereof,

(0) upwardlyand rearwardly angled braces connected (f) clamp means comprising a plurality of angulated '10 7 rights adjacent the lower ends thereof and carrying members swingably interconnected to said frame and c movable in the horizontal plane of said collar between an open position in spaced relation to said said collar and a closed position disposed immediately adjacentthe outer face of said collar and extending around the four sides thereof for bindingly' retaining said bag thereon,

' (g)' a lid carried "on said frame for'closing said collar,

, (h) a basket mounted on said uprights'and braces adjacentthe lower ends thereof in alignment with said collar and bag, I j v (i a back panel mountedon said uprights and extending between'said frame and basket, and (j) apair of L-shapecl animal guards extending between said frame and basket and swingably mountedon said uprights for movement between a closed position in which they'act in combination With said back panel to form a bag encircling enclosure and an open position in which said bag is disposed in a position I of access. v 9. The invention as set forth in claim 8 in which (a) animal guards are provided with inwardly extending flanges adjacent their lower ends engageable with T. said basket. I

' Refereuces-Cite din the file'of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Milks, Dec. 15, 1914 1,643,407 Florance .Sept. 27, 1927 2,907,516 Follett Oct. 6, 1959 2,916,183 Ariens Dec. 8, 1959 r 3,029,012 ,Leslie ,Apr. 10,1962

3,099,390 Dylla July 30, 1963 Q 7 j FOREIGN PATENTS Belgium Oct. 21, 1953 

1. IN A REFUSE CONTAINER, (A) A GENERALLY RECTANGULARLY SHAPED COLLAR, (B) A FRAME CONNECTED TO SAID COLLAR AROUND A PLURALITY OF THE SIDES THEREOF AND HAVING A PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED MEMBERS PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID COLLAR, (C) SAID COLLAR PROJECTING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID FRAME FOR RECEPTION IN THE OPEN END OF A REFUSE BAG, (D) CLAMP MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF ANGULATED MEMBERS SWINGABLY INTERCONNECTED TO SAID FRAME AND MOVABLE IN THE HORIZONTAL PLANE OF SAID COLLAR BETWEEN AN OPEN POSITION IN SPACED RELATION TO SAID COLLAR AND A CLOSED POSITION DISPOSED IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT THE OUTER FACE OF SAID COLLAR AND EXTENDING 